Regional Income Disparities Grow With Recession

According to analyses by The Economist discussed in one of their recent articles, regional income gaps appear to be widening in several developed countries with the recession. While regional income gaps can be slightly distorted due to regional cost of living differences, the income gap between the wealthiest and the poorest regions of several nations are profound.

In a method commonly used by OECD to compare the level of regional disparities between different nations, the first graph compares the GDP per head as a percent of the national average between the wealthiest regions and the poorest regions for each country. As this graph indicates, Britain has the largest regional difference in GDP per head. The second graph indicates that, not only are these regional disparities present, but have actually increased over the last decade in the United States, Britain and France.

Many policies have already been put in place to abate regional income gaps in these countries. For example, the European Union's "structural funds" are designed to transfer income from wealthier regions to poorer ones. However, these transfer policies have been largely unsuccessful in most countries. According to this article, policy that focused more on increasing productivity through improved education and skills in these areas would be more successful in diminishing these regional income disparities. Some income disparities are natural, however, as rural areas are less productive than urban centers. Allowing greater labor flexibility so that workers could more easily move to areas with more jobs available could also be helpful.

Posted by Brittany

Income Gap Between Middle and Upper Class Continues to Expand

As a recent article on CNNMoney.com discusses, the gap between the middle and upper class has been increasing rapidly for the last several decades. As the following chart indicates, while the average income of the population has remained largely unchanged, those receving incomes in the top 5% have experienced a steady climb in their wages. One possible cause of this increased gap that this article mentions is increased globalization, which, according to the article, has benefitted American corporations at the expense of lower and middle class workers by providing access to cheaper unskilled labor. Globalization has also provided other opportunities for the wealthy to become even wealthier, such as investment opportunities and new markets. Another possible cause of the increasing gap that the article mentions is the erosion of collective bargaining with a decrease in Union membership over the last 30 years. Posted by Brittany

General Electric Avoids Taxes

According to a recent New York Times article, despite General Electric's success in 2010, the corporation paid no taxes and actually received a tax benefit of $3.2 billion. This is due to a combination of the corporation's aggressive lobbying and the corporation's accounting strategy. The following charts included in the article illustrates General Electric's success in tax reduction, showing both General Electric's profits and decrease in tax burden:

As the article also points out, the US corporate tax rate is among the highest in the world and is as large as 35% for some corporations. Because of this, corporations, like General Electric, are becoming increasingly saavy in reducing their tax burden through tax law loopholes, keeping profits offshore and other accounting mechanisms. There have been some complaints from corporations that the corporate tax rate is too high and that it is limiting their international competitiveness. This has lead President Obama to announce that he is considering an "overhaul" in the corporate tax system although cuts might be delayed by increasing efforts to cut the budget deficit. Posted by Brittany

Detroit Searching for Hope amid Loss

The population core of Detroit has experienced a drastic depletion while catching the nation by surprise. National media publications are reporting on gloomy census findings on a metropolis already beleaguered from political scandal, education crisis and uncertainty in manufacturing employment. These findings were distributed by demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institute and director of SSDAN (Social Science Data Analysis Network).

The findings report nearly 100,000 more people left Detroit than the mass exodus of New Orleans caused by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Detroit once thrived and bustled with 2 million people in the 1950’s. That figure receded slightly to 1.5 million in the 1970’s. During the 1970’s, Detroit would go on to lose 300,000 residents, but with a large population base the figure did not have serious implications. At present day, Detroit loss 237,500 residents during the previous decade which left the total population standing at 713,777.

Most interesting is 183,393 or 25% of the African American population have uprooted from Detroit also within the past decade. The migration patterns of African Americans are important as the city once held an 83% African American population. William Frey throerized in the New York Times piece that suburbs are the source of the population drain, causing a pulling affect on the city once again, similar to past White migration patterns between urban and suburban communities. The mass departure landing in neighboring suburbs also signal that many ties to Detroit will continue to exist creating a new expanded Detroit.

Last, residents of Detroit are learning another consequence of population drain: when a city loses a core of people, the loss also captures some soul that identified the city. While residents hope for economic vitality on the horizon they also cannot deny the void of a hollow city.

Fernando Orozco
(forozco@umich.edu)

Japan's Earthquake: Costliest Disaster Ever?

A recent article in the Economist discusses World Bank estimates of the economic damage of Japan's earthquake earlier this month. The estimated damage is about $235 billion or 4% of Japan's GDP, making it the most costly natural disaster since similar records began in 1965. This chart from the article (above) compares the cost of the recent earthquake to that of other natural disasters, including insured losses. The second costliest natural disaster according to this chart was another earthquake in Japan in 1995. The third costliest natural disaster was Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Registration open for NCAA archive webinar

Registration is now open for the March 22 webinar titled "Beyond the Brackets: Analyzing Data on NCAA Student Athletes."

The session will introduce users to ICPSR's NCAA Student-Athlete Experiences Data Archive, and present the purpose and goals of this NCAA-funded project.

The focus will be on data collections currently available, and how to access them. A preview of upcoming data releases also will be included.

To register: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/229015219

US Life Expectancy at All-time High

Today the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) released a report announcing that U.S. life expectancy has hit an all-time high of over 78 years. The estimated life span of individuals born in 2009 is 78 years and 2 months. In addition, the annual mortality rate has declined; there were approximately 36,000 fewer deaths in 2009 than the previous year. Various factors play a role in this decrease including better medical treatment, public health campaigns against smoking, and fewer homicides. There has been a general increasing trajectory of life expectancy age since the 1940s. The CDC also released a statement correcting data released previously which had shown a one-month dip in life expectancy in 2008. Estimates are particularly optimistic for infants; the infant mortality rate has reached an all-time low showing a 3 percent drop from 2008.

Although this report is a positive one, there are a few areas that have not shown improvement. There is a distinct racial disparity in life expectancy trends, indicated by the stable nature of black life expectancy and infant mortality rates in contrast to improvements in both white life expectancy and mortality rates. In contrast to overall trends, there was no improvement in life expectancy for blacks or mortality rates for black infants. The racial gap in life expectancy between blacks and whites has increased by a two month margin, showing the life expectancy of blacks to be a little over 4 years lower than for whites. A gender gap also remains, with male life expectancy around 75.5, 5 years younger than the expectancy for females.

Data also shows that suicide has now surpassed blood infections as the 10th leading cause of death. This is the first time since 1999 that suicide has been in the top 10 causes of death. This is not due to a substantial increase in number of completed suicides, but rather a decrease in deaths related to blood infections.

To view full report: www.cdc.gov/nchs/

JVSF

Inequality Within Countries Increased During Recession

The Economist study into 7 countries inequalities found that there was a range of inequalities. Britain was found to have the greatest regional inequality with the rich regions having 11 times the poorer regions. In America the rich have 5 times the GDP while the poorest have only 75% of the GDP. The recession has made the inequality worse, and as austerity measures kick-in, this inequality is likely to rise even more. The least unequal countries were Japan, Germany, and Italy with the difference between the rich and poor regions at about 2 to 3 times. Lastly, the graph below looks at the how many times the richest regions are than the poorest regions.

Huge Increases in Arizona's Hispanic Population Revealed in New Census Data

A recent New York Times article discusses the substantial increase in Arizona's Hispanic population. According to census data realeased Thursday, the Hispanic population has increased from 25% of the Arizona population to just under 30%. The map included in the article plots population increases in the Phoenix area for Hispanics and for Whites, indicating the difference in population growth of the two groups. Although large, this increase in the Hispanic population was actually less than some anticipated. Nonetheless, the surge has generated a lot of anti-illegal immigration sentiment within Arizona and politicians seem to be cracking down on it.

Quality of Life Across America

A recent New York Times article discusses the findings of a 3-year Gallup survey, which sought to measure the quality of life across America by surveying Americans about their emotion status, work satisfaction, eating habits, illnesses, stress levels, etc. Using the responses, Gallup determined a numerical value to measure quality of life, the "Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index." The above map from the article shows the results by US congressional district. Some areas with the highest well-being indexes included Hawaii, with an index of 71, and parts of southern Texas, which were as high as 70. Some states with the lowest well-being indexes included Kentucky, with well-being indexes as low as 58, and West Virginia, with well-being indexes as low as 59. According to Gallup, based on their results, the "happiest"person in the US would be tall, male, Asian-American, at least 65, an observant Jew, run his own business and have a household income of over $120,000 a year.

The Great Recession: Who Is Affected Most?

According to a recent NY Times article, what is coming to be known as "The Great Recession" is hitting some areas harder than others and in some ways, increasing inequality in the US. This can be seen in this interactive map of the US, which shows each regions unemployment rate. The hardest hit areas, with unemployment rates 20% or over, are shown in the deepest shade of red and are concentrated largely on the West coast, Michigan, and some parts of the South. The map also indicates that a band, stretching from the Dakotas down to Texas and shaded in the lightest colors, appears to be comparatively well-off with unemployment rates lower than 5%. As this article mentions, however, even these states are beginning to be hurt by the recession as oil and crop prices decrease.